Disease management strategies and the gastroenterologist.

Best medical practice for a specific disease state results from sustainable quality improvement. This process requires ongoing systematic measurement of the local current process of care with integration of therapeutic algorithms aimed at reducing clinical variability and cost while sustaining quality and patient satisfaction. The dynamic application of these principles is disease management. This article reviews the transition from total quality management in industry to disease management in health care, and describes disease management efforts in peptic ulcer disease.